Nov 2024
Sitting en banc, three judges in St. Louis effectively barred bifurcated fee arrangements in the Eastern District of Missouri.
Seemingly in conflict with Section 329, a district court decided that a chapter 7 debtor’s attorneys could sue for post-petition fees, even though the firm never disclosed the fee arrangement as required by Section 329 and Rule 2016.
The Ninth Circuit BAP says that 28 U.S.C. § 1334(e)(2) gives bankruptcy courts exclusive jurisdiction with regard to disputes over fee allowances.
